Unconditional Love
by twlight2u
Summary: Harm and Mac learn that true love withstands all time.
1. Default Chapter

Title: Unconditional Love  
  
Rating: G  
  
Author: twlight2u  
  
Spoilers: I guess everything up through A Merry Little Christmas  
  
Summary: True love with stands all time.  
  
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters or JAG. Just writing stories about my favorite characters, Harm and Mac.  
  
Feedback is always welcome:)  
  
Part 1  
  
The National Christmas Tree  
  
Washington D.C.  
  
11:00pm  
  
December 23, 2004  
  
The stars were out shining, the ground was covered in a layer of thin, white fluffy snow, and the air cold and crisp. The National Christmas Tree was lit brightly, and people were walking about admiring it, taking in the beauty of the holiday season. Mac sat on a bench in front of the beautiful tree. She smiled to herself. She hadn't felt this happy in a long time, and at this moment, all felt right. She looked up into the clear sky and admired the stars. All around her she could hear the joyous voices of children who were out late enjoying the spirit of Christmas with their families. It warmed her inside.   
  
It was 11pm now, and she searched the crowds for any sign on her best friend Harm. She thought of how the past year after Paraguay had changed their friendship. Though it had been rough for the first few months after Harms return to Jag, they had slowly rebuilt their friendship to where it was now. They were back on the right path again, each hoping to soon, take their friendship to a new level of commitment, understanding, and someday, admission of love. They were back to being the best of friends, and nothing right now could make either of them happier.   
  
They had agreed to meet tonight, December 23, at 11pm, at The National Christmas Tree to exchange their gifts to each other. They both thought it would make a beautiful new tradition for them. The atmosphere there was so full of happiness and contentment. Mac thought they couldn't have asked for a more perfect night.   
  
Her eyes continued to search the crowds for Harm. It was going on 11:30pm now, and though Harm had a habit of being late, it was getting pretty late even for him. She couldn't imagine what might be keeping him.   
  
Mac looked down at the gift she had in her hands for Harm. It was fairly small and wrapped in red tissue paper, tied with golden ribbon. On the tag she had written "To my Flyboy, Love Your Marine". She thought the gift perfect for him, considering where they were in their friendship right now. She held it loosely in her both her hands, feeling the emotion she had put into the gift, as her right thumb gently ran across the right side of the wrapped gift.   
  
It was midnight now. Harm had not shown up and Mac did not understand why. With a heavy, sad heart, Mac got up off the bench, and once again looked up into the shining stars. She said a whispered message to Harm, where ever he may be.  
  
"I don't know where you are Harm, but I am wishing you a Merry Christmas".   
  
There was more emotion and unsaid feelings in her message to Harm than words she actually whispered. It was too hard for her to put her feelings into words, even if they were only whispered to the stars.   
  
She looked back down at her gift in her hands, and with a sad sigh, she turned and walked back to her car to go home.  
  
***************************************************************************************************************************************************  
  
Somewhere over the Atlantic Ocean  
  
Just before midnight  
  
December 23, 2004  
  
Harm looked out the airplane window, and felt a cold chill shiver through his body. He knew she had waited for him that night. He vowed silently to himself, this would be the last time he would ever hurt Mac, the woman he loved so dearly.   
  
********************************************************************************************************* 


	2. Part 2

Part 2  
  
The National Christmas Tree Washington D.C. 11pm December 23, 2044  
  
"Wow! Look at that big Christmas Tree dad!" a young boy squealed to his father.   
  
The boy pulled on his dads hand to hurry him along. He saw the other children playing around the tree and he wanted to hurry and join in the fun. Though 11pm is fairly late, it seemed during the holiday season families stayed out later together to take in all the enchantment the holiday had to offer. Spending time at The National Christmas Tree was no exception.   
  
"Dad, can I go play with the other kids?" the boy asked.  
  
The father smiled at the excitement in his young son.   
  
"Sure you can. I will sit on a bench over there so I can watch you." The father ruffled the young boys hair, and watched him run off to play.  
  
He looked around and found a bench to sit on. It was occupied by an old woman.   
  
"Mind if I share the bench with you?" he asked her.  
  
She looked up at the young man.   
  
"No, I dont mind. Go right on ahead." the old woman said smiling.   
  
He smiled back at her, and she instantly noticed his beautiful smile. This young man wore a similar, teasing smile, that someone long ago had once melted her heart with.   
  
The young man sat down next to the old woman. She seemed lost in her own thoughts and was staring straight ahead at the tree. He saw that in her hands she was holding a Christmas gift. He thought it strange though, as he noticed the gift, because the wrapping seemed very old. It was wrapped in a red tissue paper, and both sides of the paper appeared to be worn. Right away he saw why it seemed worn, as he watched her thumb gently rubbing the side of the gift. She seemed unaware she was even doing so. The gift was tied in a golden ribbon with a tag attached that looked quite weathered with age. He wondered to himself why this old woman was sitting here alone, at night, holding an obviously aged gift in her hands.   
  
"Somewhere there is a story here." he thought to himself.  
  
The old woman felt his eyes on her. She turned her head and smiled at him, and then looked down at the gift in her hands.  
  
She turned to stare at the tree again. As if she had read his thoughts, and with a far away look in her eyes, she said,"I have been coming to this tree every December 23rd, at 11pm, for the past 40 years."   
  
He noticed as she said that, that she stopped rubbing the gift with her thumb, and and seemed to hold it tighter in her hands, as if she would never let it go.   
  
He was now very much intrigued by this old woman and her gift. He wondered how he could gently, without prying, get her to tell him her story.  
  
"That is an amazing tradition you have." he said smiling at her, and bodly added, "Does the gift you are holding have anything to do with your visits here?"  
  
She again, clenched the gift in her hands tighter, and turned to look at him with sadness in her eyes.   
  
She sighed heavily, and said,"Yes....yes, it does."  
  
She looked up into the clear sky at the stars, and sencing he wanted to hear her story, one she had never told another living soul, she continued.  
  
"Fourty years ago, on this very night, at 11pm, I was supposed to meet my best friend here, to exchange Christmas gifts. It was a beautiful night, like tonight, with the clear starry skies, and lots of people gathering around the tree."  
  
She paused to sigh again, and moved her eyes to the brightly lit tree. He continued to look at the old woman, patiently waiting for the story to unfold. He realized now that the gift in her hands had been for her best friend.   
  
"This gift I am holding, is the gift I was going to give him. I have brought it back here with me, still wrapped from that night, for fourty years." She looked down at it again, and he could see her eyes were moist with unshed tears.  
  
"The sides of the paper are worn now, from all the years I have held on to it, and the tag is aged and brittle, but inside it is still the best present I could give him."  
  
"May I ask what the gift is?" the young man asked.  
  
She looked him in the eyes, smiled and simply said,"It is unconditional love."  
  
He smiled back at her, but wondered to himself what could be wrapped in there and considered "unconditional love". He was now feeling that whomever her best friend was, whomever this gift was for, she obviously had loved him very much.   
  
TBC 


	3. Part 3

Thanks again for the wonderful feedback! :)  
  
Part 3  
  
"He never showed up that night. I never heard from him, or saw him again." Her voice was cold and unemotional now, quite different from a moment ago. He knew that must have hurt her so badly that she still carried the pain, all these years later.  
  
She fumbled, with shaky hands, at the tag, and turned it to show him. He saw that it read, in faded ink, "To my Flyboy, Love Your Marine."  
  
"You were a Marine?" he asked.  
  
"Yes, I was a Marine. I have long since retired, but until now, I have not been able to leave this place I have called home for most of my life."  
  
She turned again away from him and focused somewhere far away.  
  
"This will be my last time I spend December 23rd here at this tree. After spending the last fourty years here, I have finally decided that it is time for me to leave. I have bought a small beach home in Florida, on the ocean, and on New Years Day, I will be moving down there."  
  
He could feel all the different emotions this poor old woman was trying to hide. How she must have loved this man, to keep coming back for fourty years to the same place, and at the same time, carrying with her the same gift of unconditional love that she had planned to give him.   
  
He gave a quick glance and wave at his son who was still playing with the other children, and turned back to the woman and said,"So, tonight is the last time you will be here?"  
  
"No," she stated sadly. "I will come back and spend New Years Eve here. I will be here at midnight as the new year comes in, to say good-bye." With that said, one lone tear escaped her eyes. She quickly brushed it away and looked to the stars.  
  
They sat there in silence for a while, each of them in their own thoughts.   
  
The young man knew there was so much more to that story. He thought it the most intrigueing love story he had ever heard. He wondered just who this man had been. Where was he now, and why had he left this woman, whom obvisouly loved him dearly, and never contacted her again. Did this man know the pain that she carried with her all these years?   
  
Finally, the young man pulled himself out of his thoughts and said, "Thank you for sharing your story with me."  
  
She smiled at him. "You are welcome, and I thank you for listening to my story. I have never told anyone else."  
  
With a sigh, she stood up and said,"Well, it is midnight now. I always leave at midnight. It was very nice to meet you."  
  
She extended her hand, and shook his.   
  
"Good-bye, ma'm."   
  
He watched her as she walked. When she reached the tree, she stopped, looked up into the sky and said something he could not hear, and then bent down and placed the gift under the tree.   
  
He thought to himself, she is really saying good-bye now with the placement of that special gift under the tree. He could feel the sadness she must be feeling.   
  
She stood there for just a moment longer, and she turned and left.  
  
She had touched his heart so, and he knew that the gift was so special that he couldnt just leave it there. It would mean nothing to someone else, but it had been a part of this old womans life for fourty years, and after hearing her story he felt somehow connected to this gift of unconditional love.   
  
When he was sure she was gone, he walked over to the tree. He picked up the gift and could almost feel the love and energy radiating through it. He would never open it, he thought to himself. It meant so much just the way it was.  
  
He held it tenderly in his hands, feeling as though he now possessed something very special, and went and gathered his son and headed home.   
  
********************************************************  
  
The Young Man's Grandfathers House Richmond, VA 2:00pm December 25, 2044  
  
"Are we almost to grandpa's house yet?" the young boy asked his dad for the 3rd time during the 2 hour drive.  
  
"Yes, son. Just another 10 minutes or so." his dad replied.  
  
Soon they were pulling into the young man's grandfathers house. It was located on a couple acres just outside of town. His grandfather had lived there for the last 20 years and the young man had great childhood memories of spending time here with his grandpa. There were woods and a stream and enough adventures to have to keep a boy occupied all day.   
  
As soon as they pulled in, the young boy bounded from the car to run to his great-grandpa. His dad laughed at him as he gathered the gifts to bring in. He paused for a moment and looked at one of the gifts he had brought. The young man had brought with him the gift the old woman had left at the tree two nights earlier. He was still intrigued by her story and planned to share it with his grandfather.  
  
After the gifts had been opened, and the Christmas dinner had been eaten, the young boy ran outside to play. The grandfather and the young man settled down in the living room to relax and visit.   
  
"You know, grandpa, two nights ago, I met the most amazing old woman at The National Christmas Tree." the young man started.  
  
His grandfather looked at him and said,"Oh really? What was so amazing about her?"   
  
He was wrongly assuming the young man was trying to set him up with an old woman. As a boy, his grandson had always longed for a grandma, and still felt that his grandfather shouldnt have spent most of his life alone.   
  
"She had this story, grandpa, that just intrigued me. There was something about her. I cant explain what it was."  
  
"Please share her story with me," the grandfather pleaded.  
  
"She told me that she had come to the tree every December 23rd, at 11pm, for the last fourty years. She carried with her an old, worn, wrapped Christmas gift. She said she had meant to give it to her best friend on that night fourty years ago. She kept rubbing the sides of the gift with her thumb. From all the years of her doing that the wrapping is worn on the sides."  
  
The grandfather sat up straighter in his chair, his eyes were wide and seemed disbelieving. The young man saw the reaction on his grandfathers face.  
  
"Interesting story isnt it? But there's more. She said her best friend had never shown up that night, and she had never heard from or saw him again so she was never able to give him her gift. I asked her what the gift was, and she said 'uncondtional love'."  
  
The young man watched as his grandfather got up off his chair, and walked over to the window. He just stared outside for a moment and turned to his grandson with a faraway and confused look in his eyes.  
  
"What did the gift look like?"  
  
"I actually have the gift, grandpa. See, she said that night that I met her was going to be her last December 23rd spent at the tree. She is moving on New Year's Day to Florida to a beach house she bought. At midnight when she left, she walked over to the tree, and placed the gift under it. I assume she left it with a sad heart for the man she never saw again. I was so moved by the woman that after she left, I went and took the gift."  
  
"Do...do you have the gift with you?" his grandfather stammered.   
  
The young man was surprised, but happy that his grandfather seemed just as intrigued with the story as he had been.  
  
"Yes, I brought it here to show you."  
  
The young man went and got the old gift out of his bag and brought it to his grandfather, who was still standing by the window.   
  
The grandfather, with shaking hands, took the gift from the young man. His old fingers traced the edges of the gift that had been worn down by the old womans thumbs.   
  
The young man watched as his grandfather just held the gift, staring at it for what seemed like hours. Finally, the grandfather lifted up the tag and read it. "To my Flyboy, Love Your Marine." 


	4. Part 4

Part 4 The grandfather let out a barely audiable gasp, and stood frozen, still holding the tag.  
  
"What is it grandpa?" the young man asked.  
  
He turned again to stare out the window, holding the gift.   
  
Without turning around, the grandfather asked,"So, you said that was her last time going to the tree was two nights ago?"  
  
Slightly confused, the young man answered,"No, she said that she will return there one last time for New Year's Eve. Why?"  
  
His grandfather was not reacting to the story and gift as he had expected him to. He seemed more moved by it than even the young man himself had been.   
  
The grandfather sighed and turned to look at his grandson. There was something in his eyes that the young man had never seen before in his grandfather. He didn't even know if he could describe it. It was a certain look of tenderness he guessed, of longing maybe.  
  
Quietly and almost fearfully he asked his grandson, "I want you to take me to the tree for New Year's Eve, if you would please. Whoever this old woman is..I....I want to give her gift back to her."  
  
He quickly turned back to look outside the window again.  
  
The grandson was completely confused now.   
  
"Yes, I can take you there, but the old woman doesn't know I took the gift, and she obviously meant for it to be left there. It symbolized something to her. Perhaps she doesn't want it given back to her."  
  
"I know it doesn't make much sense, but I just feel I must give it back to her. I need you to trust me on this." The grandfather pleaded.   
  
"Ok, grandpa. I will trust you on this and I will take you there for New Years Eve."   
  
"Thank you. Oh, look! Your mom just arrived," the grandfather said and smiled from ear to ear at the sight of his daughter.  
  
He turned back quickly to the young man and said,"Please, lets keep this gift, story and our New Year's plans to ourselves."  
  
He just nodded in agreement, and opened the door for his mother.  
  
"Hi mom! It's so great you could make it! We weren't sure if you would be able to."   
  
He gave her a big hug.  
  
She smiled said,"You knew I would do my best. I could never miss a holiday with my three favorite men."  
  
She then walked over to her dad, and he gathered her in a big loving hug, with his eyes just shining.   
  
"Oh, Mattie, I am so glad you came home for Christmas."   
  
The young man had always marveled at the relationship that his mom had with her dad. They were so close. He knew that his mom had been adopted by his dad when she was 15 years old, but yet their bond would be what would be seen in a relationship between a parent and their child they had raised since birth.   
  
Their early years together, he had been told, were not always easy. His grandfathers involvement in something top secret shortly after he adopted her, had caused them to leave suddenly, and go into hiding. They had spent the next 5 years living overseas. When they returned to the states, his mom joined the Navy, and made a career out of it. She married the young mans dad, who was also in the Navy, but he had been killed in a car accident when the young man was only 3 years old. It was always just him and his mom from then on out, as she never remarried. She made her career, her life. He spent a lot of time with his grandfather while his mother was busy in the military.   
  
His grandfather had never married. When the young man was a boy he would ask his grandfather why he didn't have a grandma. His grandfather would always get a look of sadness in his eyes and had the same answer each time.  
  
"There was only one woman your grandpa ever loved. And I loved her so much that I was going to ask share the rest of her life with me, but then I had to go into hiding for a few years. I was not allowed to tell her. I knew that I hurt her so badly that the best thing for me to do was to stay out her life forever. I always seemed to hurt her, and I promised myself I would not do that ever again. You see, she would have been the only grandma you could have ever had because she is the only woman I ever loved."  
  
The young man's inner reflection of his mom and grandfathers life was interupted as his son came bounding through the door.  
  
"Grandma! Grandma! You are here!" as he jumped into his Grandma Mattie's arms.  
  
******************************************************  
  
The National Christmas Tree Washington, D.C. 11:00pm December 31, 2044  
  
The young man had picked his grandfather up and they made the 2 hour drive to The National Christmas Tree. The trip from Richmond to D.C. had been rather quiet. The grandfather was very much in his own thoughts. He held the gift gently in his hands the whole way. He softly traced the same worn area that the old woman had. The young man was still confused as to why it was so important for his grandfather to make this trip and return a gift she had given away. He was trusting in him though, as he was asked to do.   
  
They arrived at The National Christmas Tree, parked and sat quietly in the car. Finally the young man spoke.  
  
"Grandpa, if you don't mind me asking, what exactly is it that you plan to do?"  
  
He took a deep breath and said simply,"I will walk up to her and return her gift to her. It was too special to have been left under the tree."  
  
The young man sighed.  
  
"Grandpa, I told you it meant something to her to leave it there. I just don't know if its such a good idea to give it back to her."  
  
He could not figure out what had gotten into his grandfather and why this was so incredibly important to him.  
  
"Trust me. It will mean more to her for me to give this gift back to her than it could have ever meant for her to leave it."  
  
The grandfather then turned and looked out the window towards the tree. That's when he saw her. She was walking towards the bench a few yards in front of them. He felt emotions run through him that he had not felt in 40 years. He was seeing her again, he was actually looking at the woman he had always loved. His heart began to race. She may be an old woman now, but she was still just as beautiful to him as she ever was. To him, she was the most beautiful woman that had ever lived. He wondered to himself how her life had been. Had she loved and married? Did she have children? And most importantly, did she still love him, after all these years, and is that why she kept returning here?  
  
TBC 


	5. Part 5

Part 5  
  
"Grandpa, that's the old woman." the young man said referring to the old woman who had just sat down on the bench.  
  
The grandfather just nodded his head and got out of the car. The young man stayed behind, knowing that for some reason this was something his grandfather had to do himself.  
  
He shut the car door behind him and just stood there for a few minutes. He had a pit of nervousness in his stomach, his hands were slightly shaking, and he had too many jumbled thoughts running through his head all at one time. Though fourty years had passed since he saw her last, and was supposed to meet her here that night, it seemed like it was only yesterday. All the memories came flooding back to him. He could still smell her perfume, still feel her touch, and still see her beautiful smile. There wasn't a day that had gone by that he had not secretly thought of her.   
  
He had often wondered through the years what he would say if he ever ran into her again. He had no idea what to say to her though. He had never gotten past just seeing her. What could he say to her? He knew how badly he had hurt her. There was no way he could ever apologize for all the pain he had ever caused. What was he looking to accomplish by meeting her here now, fourty years late. Perhaps he needed closure, perhaps he needed to tell her he was sorry, perhaps he needed to tell her he never stopped loving her. He didn't know, and sighed to himself. He hoped the right words would come across his lips once he got the courage up to walk over to her.  
  
He still stood, frozen in place. He held in his hands, the gift she was to give to him fourty years ago, the gift of unconditional love as she had called it, and he held in his heart, the gift he was going to give to her that night so long ago. His gift to her had been, that night he was going to ask his best friend, the forever love of his life, and his soulmate to marry him. Tears welled up in his eyes as he remembered.   
  
As he stood there, watching her from afar, he could not believe how it seemed as though no time had passed. Love was like that he guessed. Love withstands all time.  
  
With that thought, he summoned up his courage, clenched tightly the gift in his hands, took a deep breath, and started walking, over to her. The point in his dreams he could never get passed was finally here.  
  
His heart was pounding now. He felt as though he was in some sort of dream, that at any moment his love of his life would be yanked cruely from his life again.   
  
Before he knew it, he was there, just a few steps from where she sat. She seemed unaware of him behind her. He could see was in her own thoughts, staring up at the stars. As he stepped forward and saw the side of her face, he could see silent tears falling down her cheeks. His heart broke. He knew he put those tears there.  
  
He stopped at the side of the bench, only a foot away from her, she turned her head and looked up at him. Through her tears, she instantly recognized him. She could never forget those beautiful eyes. Fourty years melted away in front of her eyes. All she saw was her Harm, her Flyboy.   
  
Both of them were motionless, neither one saying a word, but instead soaking in the realization that they both really there. Their eyes fixed on each other.   
  
Harm was the first to move. He kneeled down in front of her and reached up, and with his thumb, brushed away her tears, just as he had done all those years ago. She reached out and grabbed a hold of his hand and held it to her face. No words needed to be spoken yet. They just stared into each others eyes, and held tight to each others hand, afraid at any second they would wake from a dream.   
  
Then he did it. He flashed her his flyboy grin. As if her heart could melt anymore, it did.   
  
He realized that in their hearts, no time had passed. Time was only an illusion and the love they shared was real. It really had lasted their lifetime, and he could see that in her eyes. There seemed, at that time, no need or reason to explain anything.  
  
He finally found the words to speak to her, because to him, it was December 23rd, 2004, fourty years earlier. With that knowledge the words began to come to him.   
  
Still kneeling in front of her, he picked up the gift that had been for him. Old and worn, but just as special as it had been fourty years ago.  
  
"I believe this gift you planned to give to me." He smiled at her tenderly, and held the gift out to her.  
  
She gulped back sobs, trying to get a hold of herself so she too could speak.  
  
He held the gift in one hand, and took both her hands to hold in the other one of his.  
  
"Yes, yes Harm." she managed to get out between her sobs. "It is a gift of unconditional love. Please open it."  
  
His hands were shaking as he untied the golden ribbon. He slid off the tag that read "To my Flyboy, Love Your Marine", and gently put the tag in his coat pocket. He then unwrapped the red tissue paper to reveal a framed photo. The photo was of them, Harm and Mac, taken fourty years earlier. It was taken outside, on a sunny day, with Harms arm around Mac's shoulders, hugging her tightly, as they both stood in front of his old airplane, Sarah, just before they took their last ride together in it.   
  
Tears began escaping Harms eyes as he stared at the photo. She was right. It was a gift of unconditional love. The both of them together, unconditionally and forever in their hearts. He realized that they had never really been apart in their hearts, and that is why it seemed to them both that no time had passed.   
  
He looked up at her. Tears streaming down his face now.  
  
"Thank you, Mac." was all he could say, but she knew how much was unsaid in those words.  
  
She brushed away his tears this time. He gathered himself together so he could speak.  
  
"I..I had a gift for you that night also." he said as he gathered both her hands in his and looked into her eyes.  
  
"I guess it is long gone by now." she said sadly.  
  
He sighed, then smiled at her.  
  
"No, Mac. My gift I had for you never went anywhere. I have carried it in my heart for fourty years."  
  
Tears began escaping her eyes again.  
  
"My question is, do you still want the gift I planned on giving you all those years ago, on a cold and starry night?"   
  
She was sobbing again now and said,"Of course I do."  
  
Never having left his position, he was still kneeling in front of her. He looked deep and lovingly into her eyes. He then gave her the gift that time had not changed.  
  
"Mac, you are my best friend, the love of my life, and my soulmate. I love you dearly and forever, and if you will, I would love for you to be my wife. I want to spend the rest of my life with you by my side, loving you."  
  
Tears were now streaming down both their faces. All the pain and loneliness they had both felt all these years disappeared in that moment. All they felt was their love for each other.  
  
"Yes, my Flyboy. There is nothing I would want more than to be your wife."  
  
He stood up, and gently pulled Mac up with both their hands still locked together, and pulled her into a loving embrace. Both of them held on tightly to each other, sobbing in eachothers arms.   
  
"I love you, Mac." Harm said through his tears.  
  
"I love you too, Harm" she replied through her own tears.  
  
They stood there in their embrace, on the cold December night, under a clear and starry sky. Time and their feelings were as they were fourty years ago. Nothing else in the world mattered now, just that they were finally together, in each others arms where they both had wanted to be all their lives. They were both unaware that as they were holding each other, the new year and a new chapter in their lives together rang in.   
  
Epilogue to follow :) 


	6. Epilogue

Thank you again for all your wonderful feedback on my story. I am so glad you all enjoyed it :)  
  
Epilogue  
  
The following spring, Harm and Mac were married in a tiny ceremony. It took place on Harm's property, outside with his rose garden as the backdrop. The only attendants besides the preacher were Mattie, her son and grandson. It was simple, yet beautiful between two people that had always loved each other. A love that time had not taken away.   
  
Mac's bouquet was made from the roses in Harm's garden. He had picked them and made the bouquet for her. She learned that the rose garden he had planted had symbolized his love for her. A kind of way for him to always keep her with him through those years.   
  
Harm and Mac decided to spend their lives living between two places. They let Harm's grandson and great-grandson have the property to live on. The six months out of the year that Harm and Mac lived there also, they just shared the home with them. Mac so enjoyed Harm's great-grandson as she had never married or had children of her own. Once Harm's grandson learned that Mac had been the woman that Harm had always loved, the one he was told as a child would have been the only grandma he would have ever had, he called her "grandma" from that day out.  
  
The other six months out of the year, they lived in the Florida beach house, on the ocean, that Mac had bought. They spent their days together holding hands, walking the beach, and swinging on their back porch swing looking out at the ocean. They talked about their times together when they were young, hashed over what could have been, shared stories of their lives spent seperately, and never wasted one moment of the precious time together that they finally had now. All that mattered to them now was that they were finally together, and yet realized, that they had never really been apart in their hearts.  
  
In their family room, facing the window that overlooked the ocean, was a mantle. On that mantle was a framed photograph, the gift of unconditional love that Mac had given Harm. Propped up in front of it was the worn and old tag that read "To my Flyboy, Love Your Marine". Next to that photo was their wedding photo, taken fourty years later, in Harms rose garden.   
  
"And life is what we make it, always has been, always will be." ~ Grandma Moses 


End file.
